WhatsApp beta update now has Android Wear support

As Android Wear continues to grow in popularity in the wearables market, more and more apps have been releasing updates to support this platform. WhatsApp, one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, has released a beta update where you can do more than just view their notifications on your smartwatch, giving you the ability to read and even respond to messages.

The update now allows you to see stacked notifications if your WhatsApp is a hive of messaging activity. You can view the stacked messages on your Samsung Gear Live or your LG G Watch by clicking on the "+1 more “ button (not to be confused with Google Plus’ +1). And instead of just getting a notification that you’ve received a message, the update now allows you to take a sneak peek at it with a complete preview, so you have an idea whether or not you should ignore the message.

But more than just reading your WhatsApp messages, you can even now reply to them by talking to your wrist. The update now includes the ability to dictate your reply to the messages through voice support. Now the only challenge there is to actually get the app to understand you and not send a wrong message to the person you’re chatting with. Since there are some virtual keyboard apps for Android Wear as well, maybe later on WhatsApp will also allow you to respond through typing.

The latest version of WhatsApp, version 2.11.318, hasn’t been uploaded yet to the Google Play Store. But you can already download the beta version (although technically, it isn’t actually beta) from WhatsApp’s official website.

VIA: 9 to 5 Google

HP ships Tegra 4-powered SlateBook 14

The HP SlateBook 14 was announced in June, which we dutifully covered for all of you here. But the big announcement now is that the 14-inch Android netbook-slash-laptop replacement is now shipping and you could actually get yourself one for USD$430. But the question really is, would you want to? Allow us to remind you what you’re potentially getting into.

For its “engine room” specs, you might actually be inclined to think that what’s here is not all that bad. NVIDIA's Tegra 4 is a penta-core (five cores, yes?) processor running at 1.9Ghz per core. It’s basically a mobile processor like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon, but it is not lacking in power, especially with 2GBs of RAM in the backend. The processor comes with its own GPU that runs around 670Mhz and will push pixels to a 1920x1080 full HD screen.

The operating system out-of-the-box will be Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. This will be the most pertinent question for users – will Android do well as an OS for laptop replacements? At the recent Google I/O, the mothership means to widen the reach of Android by throwing it on watches, wearables, in-car systems, TVs and the like. But will it work as a full-pledged laptop OS?

The SlateBook 14 will also come with Google certification, giving it acess to the Google Play Store, Google Maps, Google Play Music, and the lot. If Android is being pushed towards these kinds of devices, you have to wonder about Google’s strategy, especially as it has also put its weight behind the Chrome OS and Chromebook devices. In any case, we have to see if there is enough love for this type of Android device.

VIA: Liliputing

Story Timeline

• HP SlateBook x2 Tegra 4 tablet launched


• HP Slatebook 14 leak puts Android on a Tegra notebook


• HP Slatebook 14 arrives with Android, Chromebook 11 returns with new colors

Leaked Huawei Ascend D3 photos betray a familiar design

Huawei may have just unveiled the Honor 6 in June, but it seems it already has a new high-end smartphone ready to entertain the crowd next month at IFA. These photos of what is claimed to be the Ascend D3 show a smartphone design that is eerily reminiscent of the HTC One Max, including the brushed metal look, the segmented rear design, and what looks to be like a placeholder for a fingerprint scanner at the back.

Chinese manufacturers are notorious for their inclination, and sometimes even their remarkable ability, to imitate popular brands and devices, and this supposed Huawei Ascend might only reinforce that rather unfortunate prejudice. These photos aim to prove that the device, currently being labeled as the Ascend D3, has already entered mass production phase, but they also let us catch a glimpse of the rumored smartphone's appearance, which really looks like an HTC product.

While the removable back cover alone tells no tale, when slapped on the device it shows a three-part rear design that is quite distinctive of HTC's smarpthones. In constrast, other manufacturers like Samsung, LG, or Sony have their back covers take up the entirety of the device's rear. Flip this Ascend D3 over and you will see the absence of side bezels, leaving the top and bottom as the only borders, again another HTC mark. And back to the rear, we see two holes arranged vertically, one clearly reserved for a camera with an LED flash beside it. The bottom one is speculated to be for a fingerprint scanner. If true, this would match the exact location of the sensor on the One Max. Samsung places its fingerprint sensor on the front home button.

What Huawei is doing that HTC isn't is to have two versions of the device with slightly different specs. While both would have 6-inch screens, one would boast of 2K resolution while the other only of 1080p. One has a generous 3 GB of the RAM while the other remains at a conventional high-end 2 GB. Both, however, will be running on Huawei's latest pride, the Kirin 920 processor and will be running the latest Android 4.4.2. This, oddly, sounds like OPPO's Find 7 and 7a arrangement.

Whether Huawei is simply playing copycat or has something truly unique to offer, we will most likely know soon. The company has reserved a September 4 press event at IFA 2014 in Berlin where it will presumably be showing its hand to the public.

VIA: Weibo

App Dialer lets you easily search through your apps

If you have a ton of apps on your Android smartphone, chances are, you need all the help you can get to easily look through them and find the one you need. Well, there’s an app to help you with that as the App Dialer is a unique launcher that lets you easily search through all of your installed applications through a simple and straightforward dialer.

The App Dialer looks like your normal phone dialer, except that this time, instead of showing your contacts when you type a letter, the predictive keyboard shows you the different apps you have on your phone. You can either search by app name or by vendor name (although people rarely remember who the vendor or developer is right?). As you type more letters, it will continually refine your search until you finally get to the app you want. It’s just like Google Search, but using a nine button keyboard instead of the QWERTY one.

The app also has an option of showing you a ranking of all the apps you use, from most-used to least-used in descending order. So your social media or game apps would probably be on top, with your exercise and budgeting apps probably somewhere in the lower tier of the definitive ranking. The latest app update also now has themes and animated icons during search, as well as the ability to handle Google Now gestures as well.

The PRO version, available for $2.95, comes with a widget and has a quick launch panel in the notification area, as well as the ability to uninstall apps you don’t need or pin the ones you always use to your home screen. But if you can do without those features, App Dialer is available to download for free from the Google Play Store.

Google Play Store seems to wait 2 hours for your refunds

Android Police made an experiment on the issue of the Google Play Store’s refund time window – because it is, as stated in the Play Store’s support pages, officially at 15 minutes. This means that for purchased apps, the “refund” button should disappear after 15 minutes. Evidence somehow points to a longer window for this process.

Since December 2010, when the Google Play Store was still the “Android Market” (remember that?), it instituted the 15-minute refund window. There was of course no reason to doubt that, and 15 minutes seems like ample time to test out your purchase. But Android Police is acting on online rumors that the window has somehow lengthened to around 2 hours, as other people have tested it out and came to the same conclusion.

The experiment started with a purchase of an app at 9:50AM PST on July 31st, 2014, marked by the purchase confirmation screen above. The user then made a full restart of his device after 16 minutes, at which you would assume that the refund button should be gone. But it was still there, under the “My apps” list with the app that was recently purchased.

The post then posted pictures with time stamps, and sure enough, at 11:51AM – that is a solid two hours after the purchase – the “refund” button promptly disappeared. We don’t know what to make of this yet. Maybe Google is running some sort of test and gathering data on refunds. But unless Google makes any sort of official statement on this, we won’t know for a fact. What’s your take on this? Let us know.

VIA: Android Police

Story Timeline

• Quickoffice will be removed from Play Store after Google Docs integration


• First Android Wear apps appear, disappear on Play Store


• Trend Micro retracts exaggerated Play Store malware claim

Samsung Galaxy Alpha product page accidentally tells all

With August 4 almost over (at least in some timezones), it seems that Samsung won't be making the Galaxy Alpha announcement today after all. But that's OK, because now we're getting more solid details about this rather puzzling smartphone courtesy of an accidentally published, and now removed, product page from UK retailer MobileFun.

This leak doesn't really give us anything new to work with but simply consolidates and affirms most of what we've already heard. It's a relief to see that the 720p screen is indeed a slightly lower 4.7-inch one instead of 4.8 inches in one batch of rumors. The slight difference in size affords it a higher pixel density of 320 dpi. Although not named, the product description talks of an octa-core Exynos CPU with unprecedented speed. We're presuming, or perhaps hoping, that this would be the fabled Exynos 5433.

It is interesting that the description does include but doesn't really emphasize the "stunning metallic design" of the Galaxy Alpha, which would be a key differentiator of this smartphone from the rest of Samsung's brood. Perhaps Samsung just doesn't want to draw too much attention to the device's similarities with a certain competitor's design. The 32 GB of internal storage is mentioned, but the lack of any indication of a microSD card slot indirectly confirms rumor of that feature or rather the lack of it. There's also a 12 megapixel camera at the back and 2.1 megapixels on the front. And yes, there is a fingerprint scanner on board, though there is no mention of a heartrate monitor.

Interestingly, the Galaxy Alpha carries a ₤549 price tag, quite a hefty sum when directly converted to roughly $925. That is, of course, for the unlocked SIM free version in the UK but is still too much considering the Galaxy S5 only sells for around $600. Hopefully, we'll hear better news when the unveiling takes place, either on August 13 as previously leaked or on September 3 at IFA together with the Galaxy Note 4. MobileFun's page doesn't provide any photos, but, if you're willing to subscribe to leaks, we've got two batches of them in black and white.

SOURCE: MobileFun (Google Cache)

Story Timeline

• Samsung Galaxy Alpha leak: semi-metallic mini Galaxy S5


• Samsung Galaxy Alpha now leaked with 4.8-inch HD screen


• Samsung Galaxy Alpha leak: Exynos 5433, 12MP camera, August 13


• More Samsung Galaxy Alpha photos, 6.7-inch model tipped

Kyocera builds water, shockproof Hydro Life for T-Mobile

So the idea for building a sturdier, more robust phone for those with active lifestyles is not a new one – we’ve already seen Samsung and Nokia do it. T-Mobile is willing to put out another sturdy phone into the market, with Japanese electronics giants Kyocera building the Hydro Life smartphone which is set to launch by August 8.

Hydro Life is a 4G smartphone that is IP57 waterproof and dust-proof, so it is able to stay underwater for at least 30 minutes submerged to as deep as 3.28 feet. The phone is also Military Standard 810G shock-proof from accidental (or intentional?) drops. So these two specs alone make for a very ruggedized phone.

For tech specs, what we know is that it will be sporting a 4.5-inch impact resistant qHD screen (540x960), 2MP front-facing camera for selfies, and a 5MP main camera. It’s advertised as a 4G phone, so hopefully it will include an LTE data connection. It will have a pretty robust 2000 mAh battery.

The phone provides all of those outdoors-y consumers out there with another option on a smartphone to bring to all your hikes, mountain treks, bike trail romps and other such activities where you won’t need to worry about the Hydro Life phone taking a beating – it can take it. The phone will be available for USD$124.99 at Wal-Mart for T-Mobile consumers, while MetroPCS will also carry the phone by August 29th.

Story Timeline

• Kyocera Hydro XTRM coming for T-Mobile business customers


• Kyocera Hydro Icon 4G LTE now available with Boost Mobile


• T-Mobile LTE coverage now available for 230 million people